https://exchange.prx.org/p/571701
This week it's another long progression through the years, from 1969 to 1976, framed by tunes from Uriah Heep's Sweet Freedom album and Fairport Convention's Liege And Lief.
Artist: Uriah Heep
Title: If I Had The Time
Source: LP: Sweet Freedom
Writer(s): Ken Hensley
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1973
It's somewhat unusual to run across the song that actually expresses satisfaction with one's own life rather than the usual complaining about something that didn't go the way you wanted it to, but If I Had The Time, the opening track of the second side of the sixth Uriah Heep studio LP, Sweet Freedom, is just that. Like the majority of songs on Sweet Freedom, If I Had The Time was written by keyboardist Ken Hensley.
Artist: Grand Funk Railroad
Title: Winter And My Soul
Source: CD: Grand Funk
Writer(s): Mark Farner
Label: Capitol
Year: 1969
Anyone who wants to know just what made Grand Funk Railroad the most popular arena rock band of the early 1970s needs only listen to GFR's second album, Grand Funk (usually just referred to as the Red Album). The 1969 album is pure...well, pure Grand Funk Railroad. It's loud, it's messy and, most importantly, it rocks. Hard. Case in point: Winter And My Soul, which opens the LP's second side.
Artist: Spirit
Title: Nature's Way/Animal Zoo/Love Has Found A Way/Why Can't I Be Free
Source: CD: Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus
Writer(s): California/Ferguson/Locke
Label: Epic/Legacy
Year: 1970
Spirit was one of those bands that consistently scored well with the critics, yet was never truly able to connect with a large segment of the record buying audience at any given time. Perhaps their best album was Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus, released in 1970 to glowing reviews. Despite this, the album actually charted lower than any of their three previous efforts, and would be the last to feature the band's original lineup. In the long haul, however, Twelve Dreams has become the group's top selling album, thanks to steady catalog sales over a period of years. Unlike many more popular records of the time, Twelve Dreams sounds as fresh and original today as when it first appeared, as can be easily heard on the four-song medley that makes up the bulk of the LP's first side. Indeed, despite never having charted as a single, Nature's Way, a Randy California tune which starts the sequence, is one of the best-known songs in the entire Spirit catalog. Additionally, its ecological theme segues naturally into Animal Zoo, a Jay Ferguson tune with a more satirical point of view. Love Has Found A Way, written by vocalist Ferguson and keyboardist John Locke, can best described as psychedelic space jazz, while Why Can't I Be Free is a simple, yet lovely, short coda from guitarist California. Although Spirit, in various incarnations, would continue to record for many years, they would never put out another album as listenable as Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus.
Artist: Focus
Title: Hocus Pocus
Source: LP: Moving Waves
Writer(s): van Leer/Akkerman
Label: Sire
Year: 1971
Although it was not a hit until 1973, Hocus Pocus by the Dutch progressive rock band Focus has the type of simple structure coupled with high energy that was characteristic of many of the garage bands of the mid to late 60s. The song was originally released on the band's second LP, known alternately as Focus II and Moving Waves, in 1971. Both guitarist Jan Akkerman and keyboardist/vocalist/flautist Thijs Van Leer have gone on to have successful careers, with Van Leer continuing to use to Focus name as recently as 2006.
Artist: Graham Nash and David Crosby
Title: The Wall Song
Source: 45 RPM single B side
Writer(s): David Crosby
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1972
Such was the popularity of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in the early 70s that each of the members, both as solo artists and in various combinations of two or three members, released albums in addition to official group recordings, all of which sold well. One such effort was the 1972 album by Graham Nash and David Crosby. One of the more notable tracks on the album is The Wall Song, featuring (in addition to Crosby and Nash) Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann on guitar, bass and drums. The version heard here is the rare mono mix of The Wall Song, issued as a B side in 1972.
Artist: Deep Purple
Title: Rat Bat Blue
Source: Japanese import CD: Who Do We Think We Are
Writer(s): Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1973
The final album by the most popular lineup of Deep Purple was Who Do We Think We Are, released in 1973. By this point, after an extensive and exhausting touring schedule, several of the band members were no longer on speaking terms and ended up recording their own parts at separate times. Nonetheless, the album hangs together pretty well, especially on tracks like Rat Bat Blue, which opens the LP's second side.
Artist: Jethro Tull
Title: Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day
Source: LP: "M.U." The Best Of Jethro Tull (originally released on LP: War Child)
Writer(s): Ian Anderson
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 1974
Jethro Tull has always seemed to me to be a band with a split personality. At times they are highly focused with a strong musical vision (Aqualung, Thick As A Brick), while at other times they seem merely self-indulgent (A Passion Play, virtually everything from the 80s on). Some albums, such as War Child, have elements of both. Side one of the album is, quite frankly, pretty boring introspective stuff, while most of the tracks on side two are brilliant, including Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day, an early song addressing the issue of climate change. Although written in 1972 as part of the aborted Chateau D'isaster album, Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day wasn't released until 1974, when it became the opening track of the second side of War Child.
Artist: Mahogany Rush
Title: Strange Universe
Source: Canadian import CD: Strange Universe
Writer(s): Frank Marino
Label: Just A Minute (original label: 20th Century)
Year: 1975
Although there are countless guitarists that have been influenced by Jimi Hendrix in various ways, only one has been able to capture his entire sound from a production as well as performance standpoint. That one is Frank Marino, whose band, Mahogany Rush, has been recording since 1972. A listen to the title track of the 1975 album Strange Universe pretty much proves my point.
Artist: Steely Dan
Title: The Caves Of Altamira
Source: CD: The Royal Scam
Writer(s): Becker/Fagan
Label: MCA (original label: ABC)
Year: 1976
Steely Dan had a reputation for bringing in some of the finest guest musicians available to help them on their albums. The Caves Of Altamire, from their fifth LP, The Royal Scam, is a good example. The piece, based on a book by Hans Baumann, features a tenor saxophone solo from John Klemmer.
Artist: Fairport Convention
Title: Crazy Man Michael
Source: LP: Liege And Lief
Writer(s): Thompson/Swarbrick
Label: A&M
Year: 1969
1969 was a singularly prolific year for Britain's premier folk-rock band, Fairport Convention, who released no fewer than three albums over a period of less than twelve months. It was also the only year that vocalist Sandy Denny was a member of the band; in fact, by the time Liege And Lief was released she had already left the group to form Fotheringay. 1969 was also a year of transition for the band. Their 1968 debut LP had drawn comparisons to early Jefferson Airplane. Leige And Lief, their fourth effort, is considered by some to be the seminal British folk-rock album, combining new arrangements of traditional material with original compositions in a similar style, one example being Crazy Man Michael, which closes out the LP.
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